Technological Advancements in the Solar Sector in India: Evolution for the Past Decade

In 2010, the total installed solar capacity in the country was nearing 10 MW. Thereafter, practical use of solar power as a mainstream energy source showed phenomenal growth, reaching more than 37 GW installed capacity in 2020. The primary drive behind this growth was Government support with worldwide acceptability of solar creating an environment of continuous technological evolution.

The Sustainable Change

A long time has passed since 1960s when solar technology was first introduced as an alternative to fossil fuel. Today India is not only participating but spearheading the solar energy adoption agenda, focusing on facilitating a socio-economic change. Continuous technological advancement in the last decade has led to attractive pricing, reliability and scalability of solar technology and made clean energy adoption a safe and profitable option for the masses.

Although, having started with polycrystalline solar panels (13 to 17 per cent efficiency), India is quickly showing an inclination towards using monocrystalline modules that offer higher efficiency (24 per cent). With Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) technique on the rise, India is focusing on 350 Wp and higher watt peak modules to harvest more energy from the same size module. PV modules are also seeing a technology shift in other components such as backsheets, Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and frames. As technologies like PET (Polyethylene terephalate), PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride), and PVF (Polyvinyl fluoride) in back sheet production becoming favourite of the developers and manufacturers.

Iverter technologies are also continuously maturing, with increased power ratings from 500 kW to 5 MW helping to accelerate the construction timeline. Currently, inverter technologies are going through intensive ongoing innovation to meet the evolving roles in a photovoltaic (PV) power plant.

Market Shift

The introduction of 1500V DC system has really helped developers to construct and operate plants efficiently and the demand speaks in its favour. However, Solar PV tariff dipped below Rs 2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from about Rs 15/kWh in the past decade in India. As a result, there is a visible trend towards faster acceptability in technology in the country, with heightened quality requirement for solar developers.

We have also seen rapid development in advanced data analytics tools in the last decade that are also playing a crucial role in operation and maintenance. With specialized Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems identifying possible failures have become much easier thus ensuring performance. Acceptability towards bifacial modules, higher Wp modules with larger cells, advanced cell modules offering lower levelized cost of energy (LCOE), and consistent fall in product cost due to competition have driven the technology growth in India. Positively charged (P) Type Mono Perc including bifacial solar technology has been favourite in last 4 years. Prediction suggests that as Negatively charged (N) type modules are coming up in new cell technologies like Hetero-junction (HJT), Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TopCon), Interdigitated Back Conact (IBC) and in next 2 years we can see rise in N type technologies in Mono Perc Bifacial based modules.N type, TopCon, HJT, IBC technologies are expected to lead growth in next 2-5 Years, while Perovskite cell is expected to arrive in the market close to 2025.

Market trend suggests that bifacial module usage will increase in India along with the world and we can see projects using bifacial module account for nearly 20 per cent projects in 2021. Wafer size is expected to go bigger with M6 cell-based modules winning the competition now offering higher energy output, while M10 and M12 are coming up to enhance the efficiency level further.

The urgency of finding an energy source to replace the depleting fossil fuel reserves, the need for climate improvement and the simplicity, versatility of solar technology has drawn scientists to produce the reliable solar solutions we see now. However, solar manufacturers stepping in and betting big on solar have given solar a foothold through extensive R&D and by raising awareness. With growing demand for solar in India, Government support and encouragement through favourable initiatives like Aatmanirbhar Bharat, PLI scheme etc have also played a major role in bringing foreign investment and facilitating solar transition. The mutual understanding of the private and Government sector in building a sustainable future is commendable. However, the country needs further Government support in getting faster technological transition, investment in R&D, and investment in manufacturing to make transformative changes happen.

- Saibaba Vutukuri, CEO, Vikram Solar